Tag: dress

Last night I was trying to find something to wear to go to a gig my husband was playing in, when my husband remarked how I had loads of clothes to choose from and he only had a couple of pairs of trousers! “Ah but believe it or not I HAVE worn each of them at least once” I replied.

However, I’m always aware of a comment made years ago about one’s wardrobe and that was that if you haven’t worn a garment in the last 3 years it’s likely you never will. So, sometime during February, I am going to drastically thin my wardrobe down and rid myself of those garments I bought or made but which, in my opinion, just don’t suit me. Hopefully, once I have completed my 2018 makes I might actually have some garments that might see the light of day for longer than one wear.

And this nicely leads me on to my #2018 make 9 challenge.

So, I have had a rethink at the start of this year and I am going to make clothes like the kind I am more likely to wear. I’m not going to be carried along with the ‘buy it and stash it’ culture and I’m going to try to be as sensible as possible in using up what I have already accumulated in the space of a year.

So here’s my make 9 list…

Minoru Jacket by Sewaholic –

I was going to make the Kelly Jacket as I had that pattern, and I still will do but this one caught my eye. I just loved the way the collar stood up and I liked the gathered yoke area. I’m still choosing fabric and have ordered some samples and colours to make a final decision, so watch this space as they say.

Granville Shirt by SewaholicOver the past year, I’ve heard many positive comments about this shirt. And I do like a shirt to wear with trousers so I’m feeling quite positive about making this pattern up.

McCalls M7020 TopI came across this top on Instagram and Mimi G was wearing it. I was really impressed by the style of it. I made a note of the pattern number and went on a search for it. It seems that it may be out of print because no one in the UK seemed to stock it. So, my search took me to eBay USA where I managed to acquire it and with a small amount of postage I received it a week or two.
This was the first of my make 9 to be completed and I used some wine coloured Jersey that I had purchased from an online shop. Not the colour I had expected on receipt but still nice enough to keep.
I started with the cowl neck version as I feel more comfortable in that style of neckline.
The end result was very pleasing and I teamed it with one of my handmade brooches. So, I certainly will be making more of this style. I personally found it very comfortable and flattering. And the hubby likes it so that’s an extra point in itself!!! 😉

Kwik Sew K4135

I purchased this pattern at the start of 2017 because I like the design and the colour scheme was simply my kind of colouring. I like the way the green popped out against the black and I like the two colours in the pink version. My only fear is trying to find the right kind of fabric so that it drips very well. If it’s too soft it will hang very loosely and not look very nice, if it’s too heavy it’s going to stick out and emphasise I supposed to disguise my large hips.

I’ve got great expectations for this look good on me so I would be pretty sad if it doesn’t.

6. New look 6251

In winter and Autumn and even in the summer on a evening I like nothing better than to wear a fleece just to keep me warm. I know I could probably buy a fleece quite cheaply but I would like to try and make one so that I can add my own design influence on the top. If it works well then I’ll probably be turning out a lot more not only for myself but perhaps for my husband too.

7. Simplicity 2289

Another one of those patterns that I happened to come across, heaven knows how but I took an immediate liking to the style. Again I think it has either been discontinued or wasn’t available in the Uk because I had to obtain it on eBay from the USA.
I’m really looking forward to making this garment and hopefully more than one if it turns out nice.

8. Closet Case – Ginger Jeans

I bought this pattern last September and was and still am pretty keen to make my first pair. I now have all the necessary fabric and hardware and on the advice of Joey Sewy vlogger and many others who mentioned it on instagram, I have subscribed to the sew along. Sadly for the moment, everything seems to be preventing me from getting going on them. I have managed to watch 3 parts of the sew-along and really must force myself to watch the rest of it. That done, then I should be up and running to make what almost everyone who has made them say are the best fitting denims they have ever had.

9. Vogue 8577I came across this pattern in the ‘Sew Today’ magazine that I subscribe to. I thought it was absolutely beautiful. Top that with the fact that Sian’s mother of Kittenish Behaviour vlog fame made the same dress (Sian did too but for me, it was even better seeing what it looked like on an older lady). I was blown away by how beautiful it was. So, I have the pattern, I have the fabric, I don’t have all the notions but I could get that in no time. When I do start making it, I will go for View C but I shall extend the sleeves to make them lie between the elbow and the wrist. Now that’s my kind of sleeve length.
BUT, it’s February, it’s thick with snow, it’s blooming cold and although I am doing some sewing, the thought of creating a summer dress at this point in time isn’t really at the top of my priority list at the moment. So watch this space.

10. Tasche Mabel or in English Mabel Bag

I came across this bag sew along on a youtube Vlog and simply fell in love with the colour scheme. The creator is German and the sew-along is in German, the pattern is explained in German and the ordering process for the pattern was in German. I don’t speak or write German so this was an epic task involving Google translate to help me make my purchase. When I had paid for it I had a problem in finding or receiving the download. So then I had to communicate in German via google translate to explain that although I had paid for it and I had checked my spam and bin box it simply wasn’t there. After several emails back and forth using google translate to find out what the creator was saying I finally received the pdf email. At the same time, I also purchased a German purse pattern (details of that will come in a later vlog) and have since made it through the powers of google translate a pencil and patiently rewriting the German instructions in the German side and being given the English version which I consequently wrote down. Had this been French and me being half French I could have flown through the instructions but German was totally alien to me. Nevertheless, I succeeded and went on to create a purse that I absolutely love. So, I’m hoping that I have the same pleasure at using the end result once I have finished the Mabel.
So, I aimed at trying to recreate a colour scheme as close as possible to the photo. I have the green fabric, the spotted fabric and the mock leather fabric. What I have failed to find it the patterned fabric in the middle BUT I have found something similar tho not the same colour scheme. So I’m going to hang on for a while in the hope that I might be able to find something closer to what I really am looking for.

So there you have it, my make 9. One is complete and I have another 8 to do before the end of the year. Watch this space to see if I can accomplish it.

I’ve always wanted to make my own bra but never quite had the confidence to do it. It looked to be quite a daunting task and one that despite being an advanced sewer I really wasn’t sure I could do it.

Until I reached my mid to late 50’s I was happily wearing size 34B bras and though not as colourful and varied as they are these days the choice for the average bust was a good one.

And then came the menopause!!!! My body size increased and along with it my bust followed and seemed to overtake everything else. It was rather like a cartoon film where my bust increased to 36D then 36DD and until recently it seemed the only bra that could hold it all in without it overflowing was a 36F!!! And of course along with this increase in size came a reduction in bra colours, styles and choices. Unless I opted for padded! (Why on earth a large bust wants to be wearing a padded bra to make it even bigger I have no idea) then apart from the very rare turquoise bra my options were always flesh, white or black in colour.

So, one day I found that you could join certain groups on facebook that were created for certain aspects of sewing. One such group was a group called ‘Braphoria’ where people made bras and showed you their creations. Oh what beautiful colours and styles. And what’s more they were being worn by some ladies with equally as large boobs and sometimes even bigger than mine.

And so it was that one day in Sept/Oct 2017 I put a message on their page..

“I am a fairly advanced sewer but have never sewn a bra before and wondered if you could advise me on just how easy it is and how one goes about starting to make one.
Within minutes I got a response from a lady who directed me to the Shelley Bra as a great starter bra and I was advised to enrol in the Craftsy bra making class run by Beverley Johnson the creator of the Shelley Bra and many other items of underwear.

Within minutes I also got a message from a lady in California (I live in the UK) asking if I’d be her sewing buddy as she had the pattern and material and needed someone to sew along with. Apart from not knowing what a sewing buddy does I felt that I’d better say yes. I hadn’t planned on starting a bra immediately, my idea was to make it in 2018 or even 2019, but this agreement suddenly threw me into ‘MUST BE DONE NOW’ mode and so I started gathering together all the necessary ingredients to make it. I subscribed to the craftsy bra making videos and watched them from beginning to end.
I kept messaging my sewing buddy and told her that I had all that was necessary to start making it. No response. Then a couple of weeks later she messaged to say she was ready to go. Well, I started on the Friday evening and by Sunday morning after working on it for about 6 hours in total it was finished. What I did find irritating was that you really can’t make any adjustments until you have completed the bra and been able to see what needs adjusting and where.
Fortunately for me, it only involved shortening the bra straps and a possible need to trim 1/2 an inch off the underarm seam when making my next bra. Apart from that, the fit was perfect. A turquoise bra was born!

I have a vlog and so decided to tell all about how easy it had been and suggested I could do a sew-along to show just how straightforward it was. I was met with great approval and so the sew-a-long vlogs were created.
Having now made 2 bras I am totally hooked. At last I have two great fitting bras and even moreso I am now the proud owner of a pink and a turquoise bra which I have never ever had before!

When sew over it brought out the Penny dress I was whooping with joy. You see I’m not a ‘youngy’, I’ve been around a long time and I used to wear ‘penny style’ dresses way back in the 80’s. In fact I still have a couple of those dresses in my wardrobe still looking good and far too nice to get rid of.
Up until then I hadn’t bought any ‘Sew Over It’ patterns so this was going to be my foray into the unknown. I actually purchased two patterns. The shift dress which I still haven’t made yet and the Penny Dress.
For my first attempt I used a sale fabric I had purchased through eBay. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that what looks good on a website sometimes isn’t half as flattering in the flesh!

Pattern description

“The penny dress is a simple easy to sew and utterly gorgeous shirt dress. Penny is a summer wardrobe must have.
Penny features a sleeveless button up bodice flat collar pretty gathered shoulder panel easyfit ellesse elasticated waist and on-trend midi length skirt. The flattering dropped shoulder offers a nod to the 1950s whilst her simplicity will keep you looking contemporary and cool”

PDF or pattern

I opted for the PDF but I’m wishing that I had bought the pattern on this particular occasion because when I printed the PDF out although the test box exactly matched its required size when I started sticking it together lots of pages was slightly out. I haven’t had any problems with my previous and my post PDF patterns but for some reason this one didn’t align very well. So yes I would continue to use PDF but I would be more careful about making sure it’s all matches much better when assembling.

Does it look like the photo drawing on the pattern envelope once you’ve done sewing sewing with it?

Apart from the fact that Lisa has a small bust and I have a large bust so the dress was more emphasized on me it looks quite similar to it although waistline on mine was even higher because of it.

Fabric used

Did you make any Pattern alterations or design changes?

I added length to the bodice because I thought it was a bit too high. And if the truth be told I should have really done a separate toile to iron out the major bodice problems I was faced with. It seemed to me that Lisa and her pattern makers hadn’t considered people making the pattern with larger busts.

I also like a longer skirt so lengthened the skirt as much as possible given the width of the fabric.

What was the construction process like? Did the instructions make sense to you.

The instructions were quite good although I found the explanation of how to set the collar onto the neck slightly ambiguous. However, having sewn for so many years I’ve basically knew what to do. A novice sewer may have more problems. Overall I would say that the instructions were very good and well Illustrated.

Will you make the pattern again if so what fitting are and design changes will you make?

I’m sure I will try the pattern again because I love the large circular skirt but would need to tweak the bodice so that it fits me a lot better.
I would also use a darker material because I felt that the colour of the material that I used was not my kind of colour.

Pattern rating (1 is the lowest score, 5 is the highest)

I will give this a 3 to 4 rating because having come back from sewing after a 20 year hiatus I have found that many of the patterns you purchase these days have separate bodice patterns to cater for varying bust sizes. Some of the Indie patterns do this as well and basically to me being an oldie I’m inclined to think that given the price of the Indie pattern it should cover the larger bust size and should not involve the user to go through more adjusting than necessary.

Sewing level – Easy

Of all the tops that I’ve made since I got my sewing mojo back in November of 2016 this has to be my favourite. I actually made it three times because I felt it was so flattering.

My first top was made of a crinkly type of crepe in a dog tooth black and white pattern. The dog tooth material was purchased from my local indoor fabric market who have a fantastic array of fabrics. I only bought a metre and so didn’t quite have enough to complete it all in the same fabric. I needed to use a different fabric for the sleeves and I was fortunate enough to find within my fabric stash a 30 year old piece of white crepe which just happened to match beautifully.

What are your measurements height and body type?

My 2017 measurements are…

Bust 43″
waist 36″
hips 44″
height 5′ 1″

What adjustments did you make and how long does it take?

I didn’t make any adjustments except for the fact that I wanted to make it longer so that it covered my hips so I extended the enth by about 6 inches (30 cms). When I actually completed it my husband felt it needed to be shortened. So in reality I probably only needed to lengthen it by a couple of inches (50mm).

I did however make some changes to the top in that I didn’t add the pockets and I kept the body part of the top all in the dog tooth pattern and only added the sleeves in the white crepe.

What is the construction process like? Did the instructions makes sense to you.

I didn’t have any problems with instructions I thought they were well explained and I worked through them pretty smoothly.

How do you like the fit? Do you think the design works well for your particular body shape.

I love the fit of this top. I have slightly Square shoulders and I felt that the shape of the Raglan sleeve worked well with my shoulder line. I added a top stitching in a fuschia pink which flattered the outline even more.

Will you make this pattern again, if so what fit and design changes will you make?

I love the pattern so much that I’ve already made 3 garments from it I didn’t feel the need to make any design changes. I did miss out the pockets in two versions because I didn’t have enough fabric and I didn’t want to spoil the line of the style. With the third garment I used a moss green skull, hearts and peace fabric. It was the only one I made in cotton and I wasn’t as impressed with it. However, I don’t think it had anything to do with the pattern and I think it was more to do with the fabric pattern and the colour. The colour was not my usual wardrobe colour and so I did feel a bit uncomfortable wearing it. However feedback from other people seeing me wearing it was very positive.

Pattern rating (1 is the lowest 5 is the highest

I have to give the score of 5 because I thought it was a really fantastic top I’m sure I’ll be making more of them as I think it worked out as being an extremely flattering Style.

When we I were dating he asked me to listen to a song on his car cassette. It was the song that I’ve never heard before but the lyrics meant a lot to both of us. It was a song by Jim Croce and it was called ‘Time in a Bottle’.

Later that week I was heading off on holiday without him and I was flying to my destination. I was a little scared of flying at that time but imagine my shock when I stepped onto the plane and was greeted by the air hostesses and also by this very song.

It felt like one of those eerie moments when something was telling me that we were meant for each other. It wasn’t long after that that we got married.

I’m not into engagement rings but I did fancy a wedding ring with a little diamond in it. I also wanted to engrave a message on the inside of the ring.

This was fairly easy for me to do because I am an engraver so I decided that I wanted to engrave the words from Jim Croce song time in a bottle. So if you look carefully you will see that I have written round the inside of the ring the words “if I could have time in a bottle you’re the one I want to go through time with.”

My husband didn’t know that I had engraved this on the inside of the Ring until we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. When I showed him if he was totally gobsmacked.

I had read so much about the Moneta dress pattern by Colette but I just wasn’t sure it was the kind of pattern that would suit an hourglass type which sadly I have acquired in my latter years.
However when I saw all those beautiful Moneta dress makes on Instagram after the Moneta party it showed larger ladies wearing it and looking suitably gorgeous so I decided to download the pattern and try it for myself.

Pattern Description: Described by Colette as…Moneta is your new go-to dress pattern. Built for both elegance and comfort, this simple knit dress works in every season and for any occasion.

Dress has close-fitting bodice. I opted for the longer sleeve and even extended it so it fitted just above the wrist.
The skirt has deep side pockets (these I love) and is gathered at the front and the back.

The type of fabric required is a knit and so there is no need for a zip and no facings are needed since the edges can be simply turned and top stitched.
I didn’t have any jersey in my stash that really appealed but I thought that as a tester I would use this grey/black jersey fabric that I had bought a year or so back. Funny because at the time I thought it was lovely but now I really don’t think it’s my kind of fabric!

PDF or Pattern

I opted for the PDF pattern this time and I thoroughly enjoyed printing, sticking together and cutting out the pattern. Being an oldie who usually purchased the tissue patterns I thought I’d try downloading a PDF to see what it was like. Since this was all new to me I thoroughly enjoyed printing off the paper pattern, sticking it together and cutting it out.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised with the end result. It actually looked just like the real thing.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes, they are easy to follow. I would say this is definitely an ‘EASY’ pattern and the instructions are very straight forward.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
In all my years of sewing I had never done an elasticated waist seam in that way. I thought that was a good idea and would use that process with other garments that needed to be gathered.

However, as I’m large busted and large bottomed I felt that whilst the gathers looked ok at the front I felt they accentuated my bottom.

Fabric Used:
Polyester jersey

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

I chose longer sleeves.

I also like a longer dress length so I lengthened it.

I raised the neck so it was more of a boat neck style.

What was the construction process like? Did the instructions make sense to you?

I found the instructions easy to follow however being an advance sewer I tend not to read the instructions and go it alone. Somehow I always reach the same ending but not necessarily by the same means.

Will you make the pattern again? If so, what fit are design changes will you make?

I think I’ll definitely make this pattern again however I think I will probably not gather at the back of the dress. I think perhaps if it was less gathered it might hang much nicer over my rounded bottom area.

I’d like to try it in a dark material, probably a charcoal grey or a black with some Bright contrast to it just to see just how different it would look on me.

Pattern rating (1 is the lowest score, 5 the highest)

I would give this a 5, I thoroughly enjoyed making it and with a few tweaks it will look even better on me.